Mizery
by Girgoylia
Summary: Poor Miz has had a lot to deal with is it going to get any better?
1. Chapter 1

**I own nothing but the OC who is appearing much later in the story, hopefully.**

Things were not going well for Mike.

He sat in his empty hotel room with no choice but to think about his year so far. His first thought was to earlier in the year and the absolute ballsing he got from Paul.

_'How could you fail to catch Ron?'_

_'Paul,'_

_'No! No, you don't get to talk right now.' Hissed a very angry Paul._

_They were not far from the gorilla and that meant not very far from curious onlookers. Mike was sorry about screwing up but quickly realized Paul wasn't in the mood for excuses or explanations and as Paul ranted Mike relived that moment out in the arena._

_Her words had been rattling around in his head all night long, he managed to keep his focus on the match until Ron decided to dive out of the ring, her words surfacing long enough to keep him out of position. He tried not thinking about their most recent argument but on Paul instead, after all it was easier to handle. After what seemed like an eternity Paul finally told him to get out of his sight and Mike quickly headed off to see how Ron was. As he approached the trainers room he was headed off by one of the other wrestlers telling him to leave Ron alone, as Mike headed back to locker room to grab his gear he knew everyone was talking about what happened amongst themselves._ He had to endure constant remarks and looks for the next few weeks, it had shaken him up a lot and as a result was more subdue than normal.

As Mike sat waiting in his hotel room his thoughts settled on the meeting about Wrestlemania, Vince and Paul were making it quite clear that Mike's position of favorite was no longer. Mike had realized not long after the incident that it was going to take a lot of hard work and be the go to man the company wanted to make things better. They proposed a story line to Mike about how he was going to have to beg to get a match at Wrestlemania and even then there was no promise they'd even have anything for him, he accepted it.

His relationship with his girlfriend had been on the rocks for months now and it wasn't until after this meeting that he realized why she wanted to stick around, she made it clear that he better do his damn best because she wanted to use him to promote a friends company. She only wanted to use his fame and for the time being he could live with that. After Wrestlemania he was given the movie roll and he accepted even though he knew it was only due to the Navy objecting to Randy's involvement.

Back in the hotel room Mike stood and stretched out his right leg to ease out the deep ache that was now his constant companion and he regretted once again about forgetting to pick up his prescription from the pharmacy. As he stood looking out of the window watching the city going about it's daily life he reflected on the start of all his current problems.

Things were initially going well for Mike ever since he had got back from filming, his right knee though on occasion twinged after matches and put it down to the usual wear and tear his occupation provided. His relationship had been on a knifes edge for months now and he finally told his girlfriend it was over mid August and told her to clear her things out. He had expected much drama but was relieved that she agreed wholeheartedly and left, he decided to keep their separation quiet just to give himself a chance to breath.

Mike glanced at his watch 'Another 10 minutes to wait,' he thought growing anxious, he thought about last month and having just finished his last match in Australia his knee was throbbing in pain and as he was cooling off he really wasn't in the mood for Kevin's antics. Kevin liked to play pranks and just act like a clown on occasions and tonight had been no different but Mike snapped at Kevin and although he quickly apologized realized he'd gone too far. The pain in his leg had been worrying him for a while now and just recently had begun to effect his sleep, so Kevin had inadvertently hit a nerve.


	2. Chapter 2

A knock at the door caught Mike's attention he walked over and opened the door letting in Vince, Paul and Doctor Joseph Maroon to the room. The men settled down on the couch and Mike decided to perch on the arm of the chair.

Vince began, "Mike how are you feeling?"

Mike just smiled weakly glancing at Vince before looking down and replying "Thanks for coming here." He paused unsure how to begin when Joe spoke.

"You have the results back?"

"Yeah um, it's," he pulled out the results and handed it over to Joe "Its not good."

A heavy silence settled on the room whilst Joe read over the specialists notes and then studied the results. Mike felt unsettled and began fidgeting with his watch. Vince and Paul waited for Joe to speak.

"It appears Mike has Leukemia, his specialist wants to start the chemotherapy as soon as possible."

"Leukemia?" Vince said shocked then looked at Mike before reading over the specialists letter. Paul sat in shocked silence watching Mike as though he was going to suddenly explode, or so Mike thought to himself.

Vince spoke after a while.

"Well we're going to have to get the title off you, we'll start things rolling."

Mike nodded not looking up not wanting to see the looks of pity.

"Listen Mike," Vince continued and waited for Mike to look up, "Don't worry about work, we'll sort all that out, you just focus on beating this."

"Thank you Vince, uh, I'd like to keep this private,"

Vince frowned obviously thinking about possible benefits but then nodded and said "Okay Mike, if that's what you want." He stood and shook Mike's hand "I'll see you later on,"

"Thanks again, Vince,"

Paul turned to Vince "I'll catch you up," Vince nodded and left.

"Mike are you sure about this?"

"Yeah, I don't want the looks of pity or anything like that," Mike closed his eyes, frowning slightly as he shifted to ease the pain and Paul quickly asked "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Mike opened his eyes and gave a quick smile ostensibly to ease Paul's concerns but Paul could still see the signs of pain lurking around Mike's eyes.

Paul echoed Vince and left leaving Mike and Joe.

Mike looked over at the doctor then at the test results Joe still had in his hand then down at the carpet before saying "You didn't explain those results,"

"No, I don't think Vince needs to know just now,"

Mike nodded.

"You getting enough sleep?"

"Some,"  
"I can see you're in pain, have you been given anything?"

"I've got a prescription but I left it at home this morning."

"Hmm, I'll arrange to get you another prescription and I'll have Michael Sampson get it filled out for you,"

Mike nodded, "Thanks,"

"Mike, these results aren't great, but your doctor is positive about your possible outcome, your young, fit and otherwise healthy."

"Yeah, I know,"

"Good, as you know I can't make tonight but I will be passing on the word to Michael and Chris."

"Okay,"

"I'm always available, remember that and don't forget to see Michael when you get there this afternoon."

"I appreciate everything, Joe," Mike showed the doctor out, 'Well I'm glad that's over,' thought Mike as he led down on the bed trying to ignore the ache. It was still four hours before he had to go to the arena but Mike felt drained and wanted some sleep, he got comfortable and after setting an alarm on his phone he laid there and managed to get a couple of hours of rest.


	3. Chapter 3

The ache had died down for now and he felt slightly more normal, he packed up his bags and after checking over the room for forgotten items he headed to reception and checked out of the hotel. He arrived at the arena by taxi and was soon heading for the locker rooms, nodding various hellos to his co-workers along the way.

He wasn't looking forward to the next four days, as his travel buddies would be Randy Orton and Bryan Danielson. Ever since Melbourne some of the guys had been wondering what had upset Mike as it wasn't like him to snap for no apparent reason, they had also noticed a slight down turn in his mood, some thought he might have started drinking his problems away. A couple had confronted Mike early on but as their tone was insulting Mike easily deflected their attention elsewhere. Citing a few issues within his family, or just being run down, coming down with a cold, etc.

His travel buddies were equally unamused and not looking forward to him, traveling with them. Randy and Bryan had arrived half an hour earlier only to find out Phil would be joining them, which they were thankful for. Bryan and Phil sat in the receiving area of the arena arguing about a football game both were so caught up that neither saw Mike arrive, Randy walked over a few minutes later and slumped down next to Bryan saying

"Mike's here," Bryan groaned prompting Phil to say "And?"

Randy and Bryan exchanged looks before Randy gave in, turning to Phil "Look, I can't really talk but something's going on with him and I don't think it's just being overworked."

"What you think," Phil looked around and lowered his voice suddenly aware of the people walking past.

"You think he's doing drugs?"

"I'm not sure what, he's just not his usual self."

Phil gave Randy a look trying to read Randy's face but could only detect concern and worry. Phil sighed leaning back, he looked around the bay wondering how best to approach Mike and find out for himself what was going on.

"Where did you last see him?"

"Heading to the locker room,"

Phil nodded then slowly got up.

"What are you doing?" Asked Bryan.

"Going for a walk,"


	4. Chapter 4

Meanwhile Mike had dumped his gear in the locker room and headed off to find the trainers room and hopefully Michael, after a few minutes Mike appeared in the doorway,

"Hey doc,"

Michael who was double-checking the inventory with one of the trainers, looked up.

"Hey Mike, glad you stopped by I've been meaning to ask you something," The trainer halted in checking off the inventory stood waiting patiently looked over at Mike. Mike thinking quickly said,

"Yeah, I heard. What's up?"

Michael turned to the trainer "Here take over, I've got to get something from the car,"

Michael led the way they chatted about the new football season as they wound their way past equipment and people towards the car park out the back of the arena. Phil noticed the pair and ghosted along behind pretending to play with his ipod.

As they headed out towards Michael's car they fell quiet and once they reached it Michael unlocked the car and then indicated for Mike to get in. Phil hiding behind an SUV noticed Mike hesitate before getting in, Phil had a good spot he could see both men through the windscreen and careful not to be seen himself he watched with interest.

"How are you feeling Mike?" asked Michael studying Mike closely.

Mike looked down and away before sitting back running a hand through his hair.

"I guess you sick of that question?"

"Yeah, just a little," replied Mike, trying to keep a lid on his emotions.

"I can understand that. Listen if you want to talk about anything, I mean anything, Chris and I are around.:

Mike nodded still looking down he was struggling not to cry, he was tired, he felt so run down and the pain was back, the last thing he wanted to do was discuss his feelings.

Michael was concerned he could see Mike was only just holding it together. He was shocked at first to hear from Joe about the news but then thought 'Mike's a great kid, he'll bounce through this,' but right here, right now he wasn't so sure.

"I got you a present," said Michael reaching into the glove box and pulling out a bottle of pills. Mike seemed reluctant to take them from Michael but finally did.

"Dosage instructions are on the bottle. Don't treat these like candy though, stick to the dosages,"

Mike stared at the bottle, suddenly it was real this was really happening.

"Mike?" After a moment Mike looked over then back at the pills.

"You're not alone."

Mike snorted and reached for the door handle turning to Michael saying,

"With respect doc I'm utterly alone whilst being surrounded by people," just as he was getting out the car Michael said "Maybe you should talk to Mark Unterberg,"

"I just need to get some air," Mike paused, "Thank you for getting me these,"

"Anytime Mike,"

Mike nodded and closed the door before walking off towards the back of the car park.


	5. Chapter 5

Phil was intrigued he wasn't sure what he just saw but it didn't look good. It seemed as though Michael was questioning Mike but then reached into the glove box and handed over something to Mike. 'Was it drugs?' Phil was going to follow Mike once Michael was safely on his way back in but someone tapped him on the shoulder making Phil literally jumped.

Turning around and seeing it was John Cena Phil let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"Oh man," said Phil relieved it wasn't Mike.

"What are you doing? Who are you spying on?" asked John looking over to the now deserted car.

"Ah no-one," John saw straight away Phil was lying.

"Want to try again?"

Phil had the decency to look ashamed; he pulled John out from the cars and in a low voice quickly told him what he just saw.

"Michael would never supply and Mike would never,"

"I know, I know!" Phil cut him off.

"Where did Mike go?"

"Over this way," replied Phil heading off to where he last saw Mike heading to, John followed both were silent in their own thoughts. The search wasn't long as they found Mike stood facing away from them with his arms crossed tightly across his stomach, shoulders hunched, head down.

John approached Mike's right side with Phil following and John noticed the top of a pill bottle poking out from Mike's left hand. So caught up in his problems Mike hadn't heard them approach and it wasn't until John snatched the bottle of pills out of his hand that he realized he had company.

"What's this?" asked John.

Mike looked up surprised but didn't make any move to take back the bottle of pills, his face settled into one of shame as he looked away.

"Is that your drug of choice?" Phil snapped noticing John looking at the bottle more closely and waiting for Mike to speak.

"Mike? What are these for?" asked John sensing there was something seriously wrong.

"It's nothing," said Mike.

"Nothing?!" exclaimed Phil, "I saw Michael giving you this 'nothing'. If it was 'nothing' then why did he give them to you in his car?"

"Phil," said John.

"What?"

"Take a close look at the bottle," he held out the bottle to Phil and Phil looked at John and realized John was worried, so he took the bottle and examined it himself.

The first thing he noticed was the seal was still intact, then he noticed the prescription label was made out to Mike he didn't recognise the drug name, frowning he looked back at John.

"What are these for Mike?" asked John again, gently.

After a short while John spoke again. "After my neck surgery they gave me these,"

They thought he wasn't going to answer when he finally spoke.

"It seems I've got leukemia," he looked up to gauge their reactions and wished he hadn't, their looks of shock and pity was almost too much for Mike, so he looked away again.

"Oh man, I'm so sorry Mike," said Phil. "I didn't…"

"Yeah," said Mike wishing he was anywhere but right there.

"It's definite?" asked John.

"Confirmed yesterday."

After an awkward silence Mike spoke again, "If you could keep it to yourselves?"

"Sure," said Phil.

"Does Vince know?" asked John.

Mike nodded.

"When do you," started John but Mike had had enough. "Sorry, but I came over here for some privacy." he snapped angrily.

"Uh," said Phil.

John had other ideas though. "Hey Mike, listen it's a big shock and all, but pushing people away isn't going to help."

Mike looked up and John had gauged his mood perfectly as he noticed unshed tears in Mike's eyes, after a moment Mike shook his head looking away.

"I don't know…How am I…" he shook his head again, unable to voice what he was feeling and walked over to the brick wall and slumped down against it, head bowed.

John walked over and sat down next to him and wrapped his arm around Mike's shoulders, Phil wandered over and knelt down in front of Mike and shoved his hands in his pockets to keep them warm.

After a while John spoke.

"Listen, take one day at a time,"

Mike wiped his eyes and nodded.

"It's getting cold out here," said Phil. "We should head in," he hinted hopefully standing up then held out his hand to Mike, "Come on, last thing you need right now is to a get a cold."

Mike glanced up nodding then let Phil pull him up and they slowly walked back to the arena with Phil leading the way and John in front of Mike. They were almost in sight of the arena's receiving bay when Mike had slowed down, the pain in his leg was flaring up; it felt as though hot lead was being poured into his thighbone. He stopped completely and turned away from the others leaning on a car for support he focused on his breathing to get himself through the waves of pain.

John realized after a couple of steps that he couldn't hear Mike behind and so turned his head to see where he was and saw Mike leaning against a car.

"Phil!" he staged whispered to Phil who was unaware. Phil immediately turned then quickly jogged back reaching Mike at the same time as John.

"Mike are you okay?" asked John, who had walked around to face Mike.

"Really?" Mike said in between breaths, smirking slightly.

Phil realized that he still had Mike's pills in his pocket from earlier.

"Here, I think you may need these," he held them out to Mike. Mike looked at them for a few long seconds before taking them from Phil.

"Do you have any water?"

After they got Mike sorted with his pills and he got his game face on they headed back inside waiting for the drugs to kick in.


	6. Chapter 6

An hour later, Mike walked into catering and started picking and choosing his favourite foods in the hopes of cheering himself up. Jason from marketing had kidnapped Phil to sign more posters and John had a meeting to attend with creative, so Mike was enjoying his alone time for the moment as it allowed him to pretend nothing was wrong.

He took a seat intent on eating and catching up on the day's news when Glenn asked if he could sit next to him.

"Sure," said Mike.

Glenn sat down with his plate of food and looked at Mike.

"You okay? You look a bit pale,"

Mike looked Glenn in the eye and forced himself to calmly reply that he was just tired, late night, etc., Glenn seemed unconvinced but to Mike's relief let it slide and began reading his book leaving Mike to wonder about his appearance. He had lost his appetite and was becoming paranoid about Glenn, who seemed to sense all was not well with him and so forced himself to eat. He excused himself ten or so minutes later and wandered off unsure of where to go.

He wished it wasn't happening to him, that it was all a bad dream but every minute seemed to reinforce the harsh truth of reality. When he was about ten his cousin Peter, who was also his best friend, was diagnosed with leukemia and after a long struggle died. Over the years when Mike thought of him, it filled him with a heart aching sorrow of all the things that Peter would never experience. In some part this was why Mike acted out, unable to cope with the overwhelming feelings that over took him. The majority of the time it was benign, like his constant talking and acting it up, wanting to be the 'Most must see' person around, but Mike knew this hid his darker side, the one where… 'No. Not now.' Mike thought to himself. 'Keep it together.' He mentally chastised himself.

He found himself in the arena watching Kofi and Ron practising in the ring, he looked around and realised it wasn't long until show time, the crew still had some setting up to do with the barricades and the floor seating, but they were almost done.

Mike wanted tonight to be over with already, but at the same time he never wanted the moment to end.

"Michael!" exclaimed Claudio from behind. Mike raised his eyebrows and turned his head.

"Where have you been hiding? We need to go through our match tonight."

Mike was tired. It had been a long day and although they were already on the road travelling to the next show, it would still be a couple of hours before he would get some proper sleep. He sat in the back of the rental, watching fields fly by, occasionally he glanced over at Phil and Bryan who were both fast asleep and envied them. Randy had hardly said much to Mike all night, but could tell Randy was watching him; it made Mike wonder if John had said something to his best friend.

He was trying not to think about his 'problem' but found it hard when sleep was evading him and the silence in the car was sadly lacking in any type of distraction. Mike glanced over at Phil again, who was asleep next to him and he wished for the tenth time that Phil was driving, at least that way he could at least have a conversation.

Randy noticed Mike's behaviour and after unsuccessfully talking to Phil that night, knew that _"He's just tired,"_ was not what was wrong with Mike. 'If Mike's just tired then how come he's still wide awake?' Randy thought to himself. He knew Mike was like most of the wrestlers, they could practically sleep standing up, something had to be bugging Mike to keep him awake.


	7. Chapter 7

Mike was having the weirdest dream, it was show time and he was making his way down into the ring, the house lights were dim which was strange and as he waited in the ring he began to realise all of the superstars were surrounding the ring with strange smirking expressions. He began to feel nervous, unsure of what was going on, and when they starting sliding in under the bottom rope he tried to run but found he couldn't move. The closer they got, the darker it got and suddenly one grabbed his leg causing a sharp pain to burn deep into the bone, he began trying to fight them off, his leg aching from where it had been touched.

"Mike!" Phil said grabbing his arm. Mike woke instantly, the dread of the nightmare lingering.

"You okay?" Mike looked around realizing they were stopped at a gas station and only he and Phil were in the rental.

He nodded. "Just a dream," he said whilst feeling the sweat on his forehead chill in the cold car.

"Looked more like a nightmare," said Phil studying Mike closely.

Mike realized dimly that the pain was back and he tried stretching his leg to ease it.

"Yeah you could say that,"

"You're sure your okay?"

"How long till we get there?"

"Avoiding the question, I see," Phil said before answering, "Another hour or so,"

Mike looked around outside trying to see where Randy and Bryan were.

"They've gone inside to get some food." Phil answered the unspoken question.

"Have you got some water?"

"The pain's back then?" Mike nodded then watched Phil pull out a fresh water bottle and handed it over.

"You know places like this, sell water bottles," Phil said sarcastically.

"Really?" said Mike with equal sarcasm. Phil shook his head as he watched Mike take his medication, the smile fading from his face, he quickly looked away worried Mike would see. Phil still couldn't believe that Mike had leukemia, all night he'd be caught up in his own little world and then in the distance see Mike and it would hit him. The last thing he knew Mike wanted was pity and so quickly started a contest with Mike about how much crap Bryan would come back with.

After arriving at the hotel at three in the morning and checking in, they managed to crawl into warm comfortable beds. Everyone except for Phil had the next morning free and Randy had decided they meet down in the lobby at one to leave for the arena.

Mike had slept well, a change from the last couple of weeks and felt refreshed enough that everything seemed so much lighter. He arrived in the lobby ready to go at 12:45 and grabbed a chair after checking out, to await the others. To pass the time he checked his emails and then, out of habit, his schedule. Suddenly the lightness had vanished as the overwhelming feeling of foreboding took a hold of his body as he realized he wouldn't be attending many more shows. When Bryan and Randy arrived not long after, it took Mike an incredible amount of will power to make himself seem normal. He couldn't manage his usual constant chatter though and had to explain it away with bad sleep.

"How long has that been going on, Mike?" asked Randy, as they walked to the rental.

"Uh, the last couple of nights," Mike replied, inwardly cursing Randy for being nosy.

Randy gave Mike a strange look, but Mike pretended to not see hoping Randy would drop it.

"Who's driving?" asked Bryan not caring about the whole subject.

"You can," replied Randy throwing him, the keys.

They arrived at the arena after half an hour of lunchtime traffic and Mike was relieved to get out of the car. As they headed in Paul was stood at the entrance talking to Stephanie, they seemed to be in deep conversation about something and they both looked up at the trio. Their smiles seemed slightly forced when they saw Mike, Mike inwardly groaned. 'Way to make it not obvious something is going on.' He thought, annoyed at the welcoming committee.

Paul spoke first, "Hey Randy, Bryan, uh Mike can we have a word?"

Both Randy and Bryan said hello then as they walked off into the arena to find the locker rooms, glanced over their shoulders to see what was going on. Paul turned leading the way and Stephanie fell into step with Mike.

"Paul's told me," she said after saying hello, "I'm so sorry to hear," she said looking into his eyes for a split second. Although annoyed at first Mike realized she genuinely did care. They ended up in one of the sky boxes along with Vince and Joe.

"Hello Mike, how are you feeling?" asked Vince, walking forward to shake Mike's hand. Mike was starting to dislike that phrase with a passion, but put on a smile as best he could and replied.

"I'm fine," Vince looked at Mike for a brief second before talking once again.

"Come on in, take a seat. We've been discussing a number of names but have decided on Kofi,"

Mike looked around the table, nodding. "Okay,"

"Joe has been in contact with, uh," Vince looked down at some papers in front of him. "Doctor Markham, he has suggested a ten day deadline before you need to start treatment. We're going to have to rush this, starting with tonight,"

As Vince droned on with the particulars, it occurred to Mike that he might as well have been a cardboard cut out. It was obvious all the decisions were already made, how and when were already finalized, he nodded every now and then to give the sense that he was listening, but realized after the meeting that he hadn't been listening that closely at all. Paul, Vince and Stephanie had already left the room when Joe took a seat next to Mike.

"You didn't hear a word Vince said, did you?"

Mike went to say 'Yes.' But quickly realized Joe already knew the answer and Mike needed to know some of the details.

"No,"

Joe chuckled quietly to himself, then quickly gave Mike the run down, Kofi was going to challenge Mike tonight, then again on Raw tomorrow night, they'd have a few run-ins then next Raw he'd lose the title and they'd kayfabe his exit.

"Thanks," Mike said.

"Have you told any of the guys?"

"Phil and Cena,"

Joe nodded, "If you don't feel up to any of the matches or don't feel well, please see Michael or Chris,"

Mike looked Joe in the eye and nodded.


	8. Chapter 8

As Mike made his way back down to the locker room area, through the arena, Phil had arrived back from his media morning and was looking for him.

"There you are," he said, cutting across the row of seats. "What did Vince want?" Phil asked when he got close enough.

Mike shot him a surprised look.

Phil smirked, "Randy mentioned your welcoming committee,"

Mike snorted before replying, "It's all planned out now,"

Phil nodded, understanding.

"What did you expect?"

Mike smiled. "Nothing less I guess,"

Phil smiled tiredly. As they walked Phil got the details out of Mike and noticing Mike's low mood, tried to cheer him up.

They reached the locker room and Mike ditched Phil to dump his gear and find the facilities. As he left the locker room intent on getting some food from catering he bumped into Randy, who was lurking near the doorway, apart from a couple of tech's down the corridor they were alone.

"So," said Randy turning to face Mike, "How was the meeting?"

Mike frowned slightly, wondering why the viper was being extremely nosy.

"What's it to you?" he replied and started walking.

Randy shrugged obviously expecting that answer and watched as Mike passed him and decided to follow.

"Your not suspended are you?" Randy asked fishing for anything.

Mike snorted and shook his head, but kept walking.

"Nah, more likely they were telling you some bad news about the title you're holding,"

Mike stopped short almost causing Randy to walk into him, Mike turned abruptly with a slight smirk on his face. "Maybe," he said flashing his eyes and turned and walked off leaving the viper stood there wondering over the possibilities.

Now not in the mood to be around people Mike made his way into the arena proper and found a seat to watch the crew assemble the ring.

Phil had seen the incident in the hallway and noticed Mike veer off and head towards the arena and decided to grab some food and take it to him. Just as Phil entered the arena John was suddenly by his side, causing Phil to flinch slightly.

"Would you stop that!" Phil exclaimed half annoyed.

"Stop what?"

"Just suddenly appearing."

John laughed and then noticed the plate of food and water bottle Phil was carrying.

"Catering not good enough for you?" he said with a slight smirk.

Phil gave John a tired look then nodded over in Mike's direction, all sense of mischief drained away as John noticed Mike.

"How is he today?"

Phil started walking to get away from any eavesdroppers and to deliver the food,

"The fact he's sitting there on his own, far away from everyone, should have been enough clues, for even you,"

"Okay, settle down," John mumbled trailing along behind Phil. As they walked Phil gave John a quick run down on Mike's meeting with Vince.

Mike noticed the pair and thought about finding somewhere else to have some private time, but knew that would just invite more inquisitiveness.

"Hey Mike," said Phil sitting next to him, "Want this?" he asked proffering the plate towards Mike.

Mike struggled within himself to stay calm, he had a lot of angry, negative thoughts bouncing around his head and Phil's sudden change in attitude towards himself was sowing a seed of distrust deep in his mind.

"Ah, thanks," he took the offending plate and balanced it on his knee as he sat more upright in the seat.

Phil looked to John, who was one row down facing them, "You might want to distract Randy,"

"Huh?" replied John who had been watching Mike's face.

"Your boy seems overly concerned about Mike," John noticed Mike look at Phil suddenly then frowning looked back down at his plate.

"Why what's he doing?"

Phil quickly told him what he had seen and heard so far. John looked back to Mike and noticed him picking at the food.

"Is he bugging you?"

"I can handle it," he said looking at John, not quite keeping the anger out of his voice. "Look, I know you guys want to help, but the more everyone changes their 'habits' the more people are going to realise something is going on."

"Would that be so bad?"

Mike flared his nostrils briefly trying to keep his temper in check, but didn't answer not trusting himself to be civil. Phil could sense the anger radiating from Mike and was almost tempted to grab John and leave him in peace.

"Mike?" John left it hanging in the air. 'Uh-oh,' thought Phil.

"I don't need this," Mike hissed, he stood abruptly and walked off back to the locker room area dumping the plate of food in a bin along the way.

John was disappointed with himself, Phil noticed some of the wrestlers that were down in the ring area had noticed Mike storming off and were now watching them. John stood after a minute or so,

"Uh, where are you going?" Phil said worried act two was about to start.

"To find Mike," said John as though Phil should of known.

Phil stood, "I don't think that's a good idea, he needs time to cool off."

John licked his lips staring off into the distance whilst Phil spoke and Phil suspected he might need to knock John out to stop him, but was surprised when John looked at him.

"You're right,"

"Hey, is everything alright guys?" asked Paul appearing out of nowhere to Phil's right.

"God!" Phil jumped not realising he was there.

"Will you people stop creeping up on me!" he said clutching his chest to try and calm his pounding heart. Paul smirked at Phil's reaction.

"Yeah, just discussing, you know," John's brain failing him for a second and Phil cut in.

"We know about Mike," he paused noticing Paul's reaction. "I'm pretty sure we've managed to upset him,"

Paul frowned not liking the sound of this.


End file.
